Coach votes OU No. 1, Florida No. 2
Published: 8/28/2009 5:23 AM
Last Modified: 8/28/2009 5:23 AM
You see where South Florida's Jim Leavitt voted Oklahoma No. 1 and Florida No. 2 in his first coaches poll? We know that because SI.com used the Freedom of Information Act to submit open records requests to the 51 public universities whose coaches vote in the weekly poll.
(Side note 1: That is the coolest idea since the indoor water park. The poll makes up one-third of the BCS formula. That makes it kind of a big deal, and definitely worth weekly viewing. As it stands now, the only time we see how the coaches' personal agendas translate to their voting is at the end of the year, when every final coaches' ballot is released.)
(Side note 2: It will be a while before we know how Bob Stoops voted. According to Andy Staples of SI.com: "Several schools, including Oklahoma and N.C. State, responded to the request with the defense that the ballots are taken by phone and there is no written record to distribute.")
Anyway, back to Leavitt... He used to coordinate Kansas State defenses alongside Stoops. They're old pals, and as soon as it got out that Leavitt had the gall to vote the Sooners ahead of the Gators, it was assumed to be an act of cronyism.
Not so, apparently.
Here's Leavitt, courtesy of ESPN.com: "The SEC's tough. I think it's probably one of the tougher conferences out there in the country. To go through that and to become a national champion two years in a row, that's a lot of pressure on Florida. That was the only thing -- when you're the guy, trying to repeat as national champions, that's asking an awful lot. ... I did pick Florida No. 2. It's not like I put them down at the bottom. ... Do I give it to OU because I know Bob so well? No, I try to stay away from that, but I don't think anybody will believe me."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
